Field
This invention relates generally to security, and more specifically, to location-based document for access and storage.
Related Art
Corporate and personal documents often contain confidential or private information. Storage of these documents is usually guarded while access to the documents is also limited to certain locations and persons. It is a common practice that companies and people store printed document in a locked cabinet or a safe, as well as electronic documents in computers within a company premises or at home. Access to these electronic documents is often limited only to within the company office or home.
The emergence of cloud computing is creating new challenges in the way people deal with documents. Companies, large and small, are moving to cloud computing and cloud storage. Individuals are adopting cloud storage and sharing. Cloud networks employ public network, including the Internet, to provide ease of access and storing and to reduce the cost of storage and services. Despite the convenience of cloud computing, risk of theft for data, document and identity create challenges that did not exist with paper documents. Today, it is not uncommon to see news about data theft such as credit card information, medical data, personal identity and other important company or personal documents. Among the theft victims, many of which are renowned companies, health care centers, credit card companies, e-commerce websites, celebrities, and even government agencies.
Many security measures and products in guarding computer and network access exist, although these measures are not effective. For each measure to secure network access, thieves continue find a hole to break in. For each security hole discovered, security professionals need to figure out a measure to plug the hole. It is a cat and mouse situation and a security arms race between the two camps. Unfortunately, the security professionals are the underdogs, and the thieves often have the upper hand.
In addition to the difficulty of plugging security holes, the pursuit and prosecution of the thieves are difficult as they often reside in a foreign land. Local and national laws often prevent the catching of the thieves and sometimes limit the ability to address the security holes.
The challenges lead many corporations and individuals to be unwilling to store confidential documents utilizing cloud computing technology, which is struggling with access security and data theft issues.